Pocketbook



March 3, 1 H. J. LYNDES ET AL POCKETBOOK Filed March 25, 1940 INVENTORS 7/1058 BY finer ,9. has

ATTORNEY5 Patented Mar. 3, 1942 UNITED 1 ST POCKETBOOK Helen J. Lyndes and Mary It. Kies, Cleveland, Ohio Application March 25, 1940, Serial No. 325,770

' 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved form of pocket-book especially adapted for use by ladies and girls although the same invention might be embodied in a pocket-book that is adapted for use by men and boys also.

To those who attempt to balance their expenditures with their income and are interested in a system of regulating and maintaining such a balance at all times, it is of course a source of considerable confusion to keep all of ones funds in the same pocket-book of a single compartment and attempt to spend upon ach item or class of items only that amount which the budget allows. This of course involves the exercise ,of ones memory at the time of spending but this is not dependable as a means of keeping control over the planned budget. So long as all of the funds are kept in the same single-compartment pocket-book, there would be required actual calculations at all times during shopping in order to avoid spending more upon one class of items than is permitted by the budget; and thus there is constant danger of the budget being thrown out of balance by making one class of items to suffer because of excessive expenditures upon another class or classes of items without realization of the situation at the time and without an opportunity to make the necessary calculations. So long as all of the funds are comingled in the same compartment without any means for allocating and designating portions of the general fund so as to keep separate the specific appropriations for the several specific purposes or classes of items, as allowed by the budget, there is apt to be serious confusion at all times and the budget plan is apt to be defeated.

It is therefore the object of our invention to devise a pocket-book with means for allocating the fund into separate specific appropriations according to the budget itself so as to thereby afford at all times an up-to-date accounting for each of the several appropriations and thus keep the budget in balance continuously without any particular care being required of the spender so far as the danger of usurpation of one such appropriation by another class of items is concerned.

More specifically, our invention consists in dividing the pocket-book into several separate compartments with means provided for indicating the class of items for which the appropriation of each compartment is intended, such information being provided in connection with each compartment so as to ear-mark the money which is placed within each individual compartment as allowed by the budget which has been adopted. This constitutes a more specific object of our invention.

Other objects will appear from the following description and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the present form of our improved pocket-book;

Fig. 2 is an end or edge view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosureis merely for the purpose of illusration and that there may be devised various modifications without departing from the spirit and girls and is made of leather or any. other.

suitable material. The present form of pocketbook is of substantially semi-circular shape and has a flattened bottom portion sofas to permit it to be stood upon a table or the like, with several individual compartments opening along the semicircular edge thereof. A suitable form of handlemay or may not be provided. The flattened bottom is indicated by reference numeral I and the handle is indicated at 2.

We have here shown a middle compartment 3 extending the full length of the pocket-book and provided with the familiar form of hookless fastener about the semi-circular edge portion thereof, as indicated at 3. This middle compartment may be used for holding the usual requisites of a lady or girl, as for instance handkerchief, vanity case, gloves, etc., in fact anything and everything except money.

In the present form of illustration there are provided four other compartments 4, 5, 6 and "I of duplicate form and extent with the hookless fasteners 4', 5', 6' and 1', respectively about the curved edge portions thereof. These four compartments each extend only half the length of the pocket-book and are located in pairs upon opposite sides of the middle compartment. That 1 is, the two compartments 4 and 5 are in alignment with each other and are located upon the one side of the middle compartment, while the other two compartments 6 and l are in alignment with each other and are located upon the opposite side of the middle compartment 3.

The four compartments 4, 5, 6 and l are each marked in any suitable manner upon'the inside thereof so as to indicate a particular item or the amount of money which has been set aside for that item or class of items is placed in that particular compartment in each instance. For example, upon the inside wall of one of these four compartments there will be provided the notation Food, Rent, Laundry etc.; upon the inside wall of another of these compartments there will appear the notation Clothing etc.; upon the inside wall of another of these compartments will appear the notation fHealth, Entertainment, etc.; and upon the inside wall of the other compartment will appear the notation Insurance, Savings, etc. be provided upon a tab which is removably slid into a holder 8 therefor upon the wall of the compartment so that the notations may be changed at any time and may be made to conform to the budget of any particular individual. The amount of money which has been set aside in the budget for the items of food, etc. will be placed in the compartment provided therefor; the money which has been set aside for clothing, etc. will be placed in the corresponding compartment, and so on.

When this form of pocket-book is adopted and used in the manner herein indicated, it will be seen that there will be no danger of upsetting the budget by spending money for one purpose which has been set aside in the budget for another purpose. As the money is being spent for any given purpose, there is always full opportunity to observe how much money remains for that same purpose and there is precluded the annoyance and confusionwhich have so often resulted from mental calculations during shop ping excursions. book, the calculations are all made in advance at the time of arranging the budget and the several appropriations are actually allocated into separate funds which are placed in the several separate compartments instead of the old system of co-mingled funds. Thus we have developed a pocket-book which afiords a running balance at all times. This means a business-like system instead of confusion.

If so desired, some means may be provided upon the outside of each compartment to indicate the These notations may With our budgeting pocketclass of items to which it relates so that the proper compartment may be opened at once and without having to remember the relative arrangement of the several compartments in order to identify them individually. For instance, some such tab may be provided upon the opening means for each hookless fastener. The initial letters F, C, H and I might be placed upon the tabs 9 and the more detailed notations as to the items for each compartment placed upon the tabs upon the holders 8.

By having the openings for the several compartments arranged about the same outer edge of the pocket-book, there may be provided any number of compartments by simply increasing the thickness of the pocket-book accordingly.

The practical advantages of this budgeting pocket-book are of course obvious from the above explanation and the extent to which the principle of our invention might be employed is practically without limit, as it is well adapted for use by children as well as adults and hymen as wellas women, the only difference being as to size and design.

What we claim is: A budgeting pocket-book having a main middle compartment extending the full lengththereof and a plurality of separate substantially flat smaller compartments each extending substan-' tially half-way along the body of the pocket-book and in aligned pairs upon opposite sides of said middle compartment, said pocket-book being otherwise closed, all of said compartments opening along the same edge portion of the pocketbook, means upon the inside of each individual smaller compartment for identifying the specific purposes for which the contents thereof are intended, hookless fastening means along the same edge portion of all of said compartments for individually closing the same, and means provided upon each individual opening means of said hookless fastening means for indicating the general nature of the items allocated to each of said smaller compartments. HELEN J. LYNDES. MARY R. KIES. 

